tucker



Oct. 3, 1944. M. w. TUCKER GUN SIGHT MOUNTING Filed March 50. 1943 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

MAYNARD W .TU CKER ATTORNEYS Get. .3, 1944. M. w. TUCKER GUN SIGHT MOUNTING Filed March 30, 1943 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

MAYNARD W.TUCKER ATTO R NEYS 06%. 3, 1944. w TUCKER 2,359,693

GUN S I G HT MOUNT ING Filed March 30, 1943 4 Shets-Sheet 5 15 INVENTOR.

MAYNARD WQTUCKER BY ATTORNEYS Oct. 3, 1944. M. w. TUCKER GUN SIGHT MOUNTING Filed March 50, 1945 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR.

MAYNARD W. TUCKER ATTORNEYS Patented Oct. 3, 1944 GUN SIGHT MOUNTING Maynard W. Tucker, Ypsilanti, Mich assignor to Higgins-Tucker Motor Co., Micln, a corporation of Louisiana 1110., Ypsilanti,

Application March 30, 1943, Serial No. 481,121

3 Claims;

The present invention relates to gun sights and more specifically to sighting means for machine guns or the like.

In the mounting of machine guns in the turrets of planes, tanks and other war machines,

means is usually provided to enable the guns to be aimed in any direction through a considerable horizontal angleoften a complete circlea'nd the sighting of the gun or group of guns in such movement ofiers no great problem.

remains horizontal, but compensates for trajectory changes when the muzzle, or muzzles of a group of guns, is elevated or depressed.

Furthermore, at all angles of elevation and depression, the gunner may assume a most natural and comfortable position since the relative position between him and the sight is practically constant.

Another object is .a gunsight mounting of the type indicated which shall be simple in construction and adjustment; accuratein operation; and one not likely to get out of order.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon reference to the following description and the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a gunsight and gun moimt embodying the present invention.

Figure 2 is a perspective View on a somewhat larger scale.

Figure 3 is a front elevation of the same.

Figure 4 is a plan view of the sight and mount assembly. I

Figure 5 is a section on line 5-5 of Figure 4.

Figure 6 is a section on line 6-6 of Figure 1.

Figure 7 is..a section on line 1-1 of Figure 1.

Figure 8 is a vertical section of the rotatable hub as if on line 8-8 of Figure 1.

Figures 9, l0 and 11 are diagrammatic side elevations showing the sight and mount in as many positions.

Figure 12 is a sectional view showing a modification of the structure shown in Figure 5.

Figure 13 is a perspective view on somewhat larger scale.

Figure 14 is a side elevation of a modified gunsight and gun mount embodying the present invention.

Figure 15 is a front elevation of the same.

Figure 16 is a section on line lfi-lii of Fi ure 15.

In the drawings, there is shown at 20 the lower stationary portion of a turret which maybe mounted upon or be a part of any suitable vehicle or fixed fortification. Within this is mounted a suitable rotatable pedestal (not shown) carrying the mechanism for producing the horizontal and vertical traverse of the machine guns mentioned later on in the description.

Carried by the pedestal mentioned is a frame member or support 2| provided with a forwardly extendin portion secured to a ring 22'rotatably mounted upon the upper edge of turret 211 upon suitable ball bearings 23. This ring insures smooth operation during horizontal traverse and also helps sustain the shock of recoil whenthe machine guns are being fired.

The frame member 2| supports at its upper end a ring or drum 25 in the ends of which are rotatably mounted a pair of discs 26, suitable ball bearings 21 being used to provide for free movement. These discs 26 are fixed together by means of the spacing bars 28 of which there are several.

Also carried by frame member 2| and extending diagonally upward and toward the rear over the drum 25, is an arm 30 serving as a stationary part of the" sighting" mechanism.

The discs 26 have fixed to them the gun mounting platforms 3|, upon which a pair ofmachine guns 32 may be mounted. and also carried for! wardly projecting arms 33 forming part of the sighting mechanism. Further, one of the discs 26 also carries a, circular rack 38 actuable by a pinion to produce the vertical traverse of the guns 32.

The gun sight itself is indicated at 40 as a unit and consists'generally of an instrument having an objective lens producing an image upon a small rectangular screen visible to the gunner. This sight 40, in the present invention, is mounted at the forward end of a member 4! hinged at its rear end to the stationary arm 30 and having its forward end supported by two arms 42 hinged thereto and at their other ends hinged to the arms 33 fixed to discs 26. The latter are preferably fixed together at their outer ends by means of a cross member 26A. This cross membe! 26!. serves to-maintainthe spacing of the arms 33 and also acts as a stop or abutment-for adjusting screws 45, the latteri passing through a cross member 46 fixed between the arms 42.

Instead of the member 43, as shown in Figures 2 and 5, the spacer may consist of a cam I2IA, as shown in Figure 12, the ends of which are supported between the arms 42. This cam I23A bears against the cross member 28A when the guns are in extreme depression. In this case, by rotating the cam, accurate equal adjustment of the pivots 33A is obtained in the slots cut in arms 33.

In assembling the sight mounting, the armsf42 are pivoted to the member 4|, carrying the sight,

so that the distance between the pivot point 42A the stationary arm 30, is the same as the distance between the center 28B of discs 26 and the point 33A, where the arms 42 are pivoted or hinged to arms 33. And, while the length of arm 30 is fixed, the arms 42 are adjustable in length side, namely, the line between pivot point 33A and disc center 263. The parallelism is, however, only approximate since" adjustment of the device must allow for the trajectory of the bullets.

In Figure 9, for example, the guns'are indicated as sighted at a target at a selected rang and at the same level, and are slightly elevated. The sight itself is of course exactly horizontal. In this figure, the axis of the gun bore is indicated by the line 32A. This setting means that the sides 42 of the quadrilateral must be shortened and such adjustment is provided for as described later. With the sides of the quadrilateral shortened, as the guns are elevated, the relative positions of the sides 33 and 4| of the quadrilateral changes and gradually approaches parallelism until the guns are aimed vertically upward when parallelism is reached. This change is indicated in Figures 9, and 11, showingthe guns aimed respectively, at a target at the same level, at one about 45 up, and at one directly above.

As mentioned above,'the arms 42 are adjustable in length and such adjustability may be produced by the structure indicated in Figure 6. In

together at their outer ends by a cross member 23A, as in the construction 2 and 5.

In this embodiment of the invention, the arms I30 are hinged at the stationary pivot point I30A at the rear of drum I 33. The arms I 42 are hinged at one end to the arms I33 at I33A, which arms I33 are fixed to and move with the discs 26 around the center 233. The arms I 42, which are fixed in length,are hinged at their upper ends to arms I30, atthe points A.

The pivots 30A for the arms I42 are movable in slots in the arms I30, and pass through these slots into the cross member 50 carried by the member I4 i and movable forward and backward and the point 40A, where member H is hinged to through the action of the screw 3| carried by member I. I Movement of the member I 50 therefore moves the pivot pins "A forward and backward in the slots "B. These slots are shaped in such a way as to cause the line of sight to be parallel to the line of fire when the guns are in a'vertical position at any location of the pivot 50A in the slot. However, when the line of sight is horizontal, the position of pivot 50A can be adjusted so as to give any required amount of compensation for trajectory.

The four-sided figure thus produced, having one stationary side, changes its shape when three of its sides are moved, as theynecessarily are so when the discs 23 are rotated to produce the vertical traverse of the guns, and, when this change ofshape is produced, the member I stays approximately parallel with the opposite side, namely, the line between the pivot point I33A 35 and disc center 2413. The parallelism is, however,

such adjustment is provided for as described later. Since the slot ismade to always give parallelism in vertical position, the trajectory compensation will be a maximum at horizontal and approaches parallelism until the guns-are aimed directly vertically upward when parallelism is rectly above.

reached. This change is substantially the same as that indicated in Figures 9, 10 and 11, showing the guns aimed respectively, at a target at the same level, at one about 45 up, and at one di- As mentioned above, the pivot point is adjustable in the slots in member I30 and suchadiustability may be produced by the structure indicated in Figure 16. A shaft II, having a knob .on one end, isfixed to rotate in a hole in member this figure, each arm 42 is shown'as having a Y slotted eye 42B passing through the arm and through a recess 42C in-which is a spring 42D.

The stud 42A fixed ,in member 4I passes through the eye 42B and recess 42C andis pressed toward the upper end of the slot by the spring to s, the'gun sight, indicated at so, is the same as shown in previous figures, and is mounted on the forward end of a member I 4I, which in turn 2 is fixedly mounted between the arms I30 hinged at their rear ends to the drum 25, and being supported'forwardly by two arms I42 hinged thereto, and at their other ends hinged to the arms I33 fixed to discs 28. These arms I33 are fixed HI and a section of length on the other end is threaded. The threaded portion or member II,

acting as a lead screw, engages similar internal threads cut in cross member 30. By turning the fiQeknobon the end of shaft 5|, the pivot point 00A,

around which arms I42 are hinged, is moved to the desired position.

I am aware that the invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof, and I to indicate the scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. A sight mounting for guns arranged for ver-' tical traverse upon a suitable support, said mounting consisting of a sight carrying member 76 above said guns, a supporting arm for said memshown in Figures 1,

ber extending upward and rearward relative to said guns and fixed to said gun support, the sight carrying member being hinged to said arm, a supporting leg hinged at its upper end to said member and at its lower end to structure fixed to the guns and movable therewith, and means for adjusting the length of said leg whereby to vary the relative position of said sight carrier member and the axis of a gun.

2. In a machine gun mounting a, drum mounted rigidly upon a suitable support and having its axis arranged horizontally, discs rotatably mounted in the endsof said drum, machine gun supporting platforms fixed to said discs crosswise thereof, an arm fixed to said drum and extending upward at an acute angle, arms fixed to said discs and extending substantially horizontally in the direction opposite that of the said fixed arm, a member hinged at one end to said fixed arm, supportinglegs hinged to said member and to the 20 arms carried by the discs, said legs being adjustable in length, and a gun sight mounted upon said member.

3. A gun and gun sight mounting comprising a circular member mounted for rotation about a horizontal axis, a gun platform fixed to said circular member below the center thereof whereby the axis of the gun barrel may be arranged to intersect said horizontal axis, arms fixed to said circular member and extending in the direction of the gun muzzle and parallel to-the gun barrel, a stationary arm extending in the opposite direction and diagonally upward, a gun sight supporting member hinged to the stationary arm and having a gun sight fixed thereto, legs hinged to said supporting member and to the first mentioned arms, and means for adjusting the length of said legs whereby to adjust the relation between said sight and the axis of the gun barrel.

MAYNARD W. TUCKER. 

